Tight Inventory Drove Up Rent Around Major Subway Stops

NYC’s subway system will turn 122 years old this year. As the backbone of the largest city in the nation, the MTA subway carries New Yorkers everywhere, with ridership data reaching an all-time high in 2025 since the pandemic.

It goes without saying that for New Yorkers, which subway stop you live close to matters. Proximity to the right trains means shorter commutes and more time spent doing what you love. But more importantly, choosing the right stop could potentially save you hundreds of dollars. How much can you save in 2026 by living one stop farther away from the city center? Let’s find out.

Key Findings

• City-wide, median one-bedroom rent rose 5.34% to $4,428 in July. Increases among two-bedroom units are more stark, at 10.67% year-over-year.
• Rental prices increased at 91% of subway stops this year, higher than the 87% in 2025.
• 23 subway stops experienced decreases in rent year over year.
• Franklin St (1-2) remains the most expensive subway stop, with a median one-bedroom rent reaching $6,191, 3.98% higher than last year.
• Supply crunch in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn and Queens drove rents up significantly around certain stops, including 103rd St (Line 1), Eastern Pkwy – Bklyn Museum (2-3-4), and 14th St (Lines A-C-E).

2026 NYC Subway Median Rent Map with Annual Fluctuations

The map below shows the median one-bedroom rent at each subway stop, as well as year-over-year price fluctuations.

Get the code to embed this interactive map!

Median one-bedroom rents by subway stops remain high in Manhattan, specifically in neighborhoods known for luxury rentals, including TriBeCa, West Village, and Chelsea. Franklin St (Trains 1-2) remains the most expensive stop in NYC, at a whopping $6,191 per month for a one-bedroom. In Brooklyn, rents in Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Dumbo, and Brooklyn Heights are catching up with their city-center counterparts, with median one-bedroom rent reaching $4,840 at York St (F Train).

Turnover Freeze Drives Up Rents

Those who worry about being priced out of prime NYC locations are right to. Of the 473 stops we mapped, 91% posted higher one-bedroom rents than a year ago, up from 87% in 2025, with just 23 stops falling. At nine stops in ten, the rent went up.

The clearest sign of the freeze is what’s vanishing from the bottom: the number of stops with a $5,000+ one-bedroom more than doubled in a year, from 23 to 49. As lower-priced units get snapped up and held, the listings left behind skew higher. As moving means re-pricing to a near-record market, renters stay put to hold onto the rent they have, an instinct that only hardens with a stabilized-unit rent freeze in October 2026.

After 17 years of running RentHop, we’re seeing some of the largest YoY rental increases and it’s not at all surprising. The past year has brought significant regulatory and market-structure changes — if anything I’m curious why the gain was not more pronounced in certain areas. We’ll watch closely to see whether the trend carries into 2027 as landlords and brokers continue adapting.

— Lee Lin, CEO of RentHop

Median 1BR Rents at Major NYC Subway Hubs

Here’s what a one-bedroom runs near the busiest stops in the system. For context, the citywide median one-bedroom sits at $4,665 in 2026, and the Manhattan core hubs all clear it, while the Brooklyn and Queens ones land just under. Either way, you’re paying for the privilege of never being more than a transfer from anywhere.

Union Sq – 14 St

• N-Q-R-W Trains: $5,200, +2.97%
• 4-5-6-6 Express: $4,850, +3.19%

Times Square

• 1-2-3 Trains: $4,629, +2.98%
• N-Q-R-W:  $4,797, +4.44%

Grand Central

• 4-5-6-6 Express Trains: $4,500, +2.86%
• 7-7 Express: $4,756, +8.09%

West 4th Street

• B-D-F-M Trains: $5,017, +7.88%
• A-C-E: $5,017, +6.85%

Herald Square

• B-D-F-M Trains: $4,878, +4.89%
• N-Q-R-W: $4,995, +7.53%

Fulton Street

• 2-3 Trains: $4,828, +2.82%
• 4-5: $4,799, +4.33%
• A-C: $4,800, +3.23%
• J-Z: $4,800, +3.58%

Jay St – Metro Tech

• A-C-F Trains: $4,345, +2.22%

Atlantic Ave – Barclays Center

• 2-3-4-5 Trains: $4,395, +2.21%
• B-Q: $4,395, +2.21%
• D-N-Q-R: $4,380, +2.46%

Broadway Junction

• J-Z Trains: $2,700, +0.19%
• A-C: $2,650, −0.84%

Jackson Heights – Roosevelt Av / 74 St – Broadway

• E-F-M-R Trains:  $2,495, +6.17%
• 7 Train: $2,448, +2.19%

Columbus Circle is the rare hub that actually dipped this year, and 125th St stands alone as the one major interchange where a one-bedroom still starts with a 3. Everywhere else, convenience keeps getting more expensive.

Rents Spiked at These Stops

These are the stops where one-bedroom rents climbed hardest this year, double-digit jumps that ran several times the citywide pace. Notice where they sit: not the cheapest corners of the city, but the almost-affordable ones, right at the edge of the expensive core.

Rents Decreased at These Stops

At 23 stops, one-bedroom rents actually fell year over year,  a small club in a market this tight, but a real one. And there’s a pattern: most of the relief turned up in the northern Bronx, where a cluster of stops gave a little back.

Turn your commute into extra cash at these stops

Remember the question from above, “how much can you save in 2026 by living just one stop away from the city center”? Check out the answers, and the savings might be bigger than you realize.

• Save $995 by moving from 68th St – Hunter College to 77th St ($3,895) on the 4-6-6 Express trains
• Save $900 by moving from Bedford Ave to Lorimer St ($4,500) on the L train
• Save $800 by moving from Bowery to Delancey – Essex Street ($3,995) on the J-Z trains
• Save $650 by moving from 96th St to Central Park North (110th St) ($3,400) on the 2-3 trains
• Save $600 by moving from Broadway – Lafayette St to Lower East Side – 2nd Ave ($4,000) on the B-D-F-M trains
• Save $514 by moving from Lafayette Ave to Clinton – Washington Aves ($3,995) on the A-C trains

Methodology

To calculate the median net effective rents for the map above, we used RentHop’s rental data for long-term, unfurnished one-bedroom apartments from April 1 through June 30, 2025 & 2026, MTA Lines and Stops data, and GIS data for subway stops compiled by CUNY – Baruch College and NYC Open Data. To get accurate prices near the subway stops, we looked at least 50 non-duplicated rental listings within 800 meters (0.5 miles) of a subway stop and then calculated the median rents. If there were less than 50 non-duplicated listings. If not, the radius from the stop was increased and the data were resampled to ensure enough unique listings were used when calculating the median.

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